Friday, April 13, 2007

Washington State Enters the 21st Century

Washington may be a liberal state, but it still has its share of mouthbreathing dimwits. You know the type — they think a vegetarian who works at Burger King should be allowed to refuse to serve hamburgers. I think that was it. Oh, I remember now: a pharmacist who doesn’t believe in birth control should be able to refuse to fill a birth control prescription.

This seems like the no-brainer of the week, but the Washington State Board of Pharmacy has ruled unanimously that drug stores have a duty to fill all lawful prescriptions. Period. This includes Plan B, the emergency contraception pill. Any individual pharmacists or drug stores that violate these rules could have their licenses revoked.

A woman from Planned Parenthood said the ruling “ensures that men and women will have access to their health care.”

And now, equal time for the bookburning crowd: A spokesman for Human Life Washington said “I don’t think pharmacists who adhere to traditional moral precepts are going to allow their conscience to be overrun by the Board of Pharmacy.” Or maybe these “moral” pharmacists could find another job that doesn’t clash with their religious beliefs.

“Human Life Washington” — LOL. If there was a truth-in-labeling law for political groups, they'd have to call themselves Human Fetus Washington or Unborn Life Washington. If you're in the mood for a good laugh, check out their website.

Let's Talk: Interesting post (at your other blog) and article. I've also done several posts before on this same topic. It hasn't been in the news as much lately, but if a liberal state like Washington is just now ruling in favor of patients, it looks like there'll be a lot of uphill battles in the future.

Jolly Roger: Finding a line of work that doesn't interfere with your beliefs -- there's a concept. I guess thinking logically and thumping the Bible don't go hand in hand.

Prague Twin: Yup, there are tons of comparisons like that. For some reason the "Christians" only care about the pharmacist who doesn't believe in birth control; for all the others they'd probably get a sudden attack of logic and say "hey, why don't you just get another job that doesn't clash with your beliefs?"

Washington state also recently passed a domestic partnership bill (which isn't marriage, but it does provide some protections for same-sex couples). I suppose they had to pass an official law to clear up something that was being discussed in some court cases and protests outside big-box pharmacies. I'm glad they passed the rule. After all, if it's so against your religion, get someone else in the pharmacy to put the pills in the bottle and had it to me. Here's the deal: Plan B isn't an abortion, but rather it prevents one. It works like a high-powered birth control pill. It's science, that's all, and if your religion doesn't like you learnin' about science, maybe you should rethink not your profession but your religion.

Makes me think about a joke from George Carlin: "You can only get birth control pills witha prescription, which means you still need a note to get laid."

Mile High Pixie: Yeah, it's funny about Washington. It's a very liberal state overall, but there are some very powerful rightwing extremist forces here as well. It isn't just a few rogue pharmacists taking a stand against birth control; some very well-organized groups are behind this.

Last November several state Supreme Court justices were up for re-election. A Falwell/Dobson clone almost got elected to one of the vacancies; it was a little too close for comfort.

Tom, I agree with your comment in response to PragueTwin... if the dumbfucks don't feel like they can fill patients' prescriptions for reasons related to their "moral values", then they need to get the hell out of the pharmacy and find another line of work. Maybe the ministry!

Now how about that. Let them use their good salaries/income to buy old storefront buildings, restore them a bit, and set them up as "churches" with themselves as pastors. Then they can cathart to any blinder-wearing droolers who care to listen about their "moral values", from behind pulpits.

I believe religion belongs in churches and in homes. Same goes for superstition, if there is a difference. I do not believe religion belongs in government, politics, or in health care decisions. Whether or not it belongs in business is certainly up to the individual running the business. But when it comes to access to health care, I think the doofii need to just butt out. In this case, they are not only trying to protect a living fetus, they are trying to prevent people from preventing the occurence of a fetus. Heaven help us.

I applaud Washington for passing into law what it did. Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich decreed such an approach a while back when things were becoming more than a bit hysterical in certain parts of his state.

I apologize for my intolerance of religious fundamentalism. No, wait a minute... no, I don't apologize. And yes, saying that DID make me feel better just now.

Snave: Yeah, there's just no justification for anyone to let their religious beliefs interfere with their jobs. Conservatives certainly don't care about workers' rights in any other situation; they've gotta know how ironic this looks. The union-busting Big Business party is sticking up for those "oppressed" pharmacists. LOL.

It would be more logical for these pharmacists to become ministers instead, but the ministry probably doesn't pay as well (usually). It's more fun for them if they can keep their high-paid pharmacy jobs and still get to preach and spew fire and brimstone on their patients.

"You think you're pregnant and you want Plan B? I'm sorry, we have that here but my moral values dictate that I can't give you any. Say twenty Hail Marys and call your doctor in the morning."

TOM: You make an excellent point about how the righties don't care about workers' rights, but they will make exceptions for the rights of religious pharmacists to not dispense prescribed medications if they don't believe it's "right with God".

My prescriptions for such pharmacists would come from the store supervisor's office, and they would be in the form of pink slips.

Snave: Yup, you've got it. The only prescription for this type of pharmacist is a pink slip. That's totally unacceptable, for a patient to be picking up a medical prescription and be denied because of a pharmacist's whim.

I checked out the site, and I just laughed. My favorite part...Shop For Charity Day.

I also loved how the feminist woman said in the Q&A section with 100% certainty that late term abortions are NEVER medically necessary. And she would know because...she's a doctor? I think not!!

I guess they would need the Shop For Charity Day so they can pay their own bills. After all, these people have absolutely nothing better to do than harass women on a daily basis while NORMAL people actually work.

ParisLOve2: Yup, that site is really a crackup. That's the biggest problem with those people -- they have too much time on their hands. They have nothing better to do than harrass normal people who are just working and trying to solve their own problems.